


Baggage

by RosexKnight



Series: Tumblr Drabble Prompts [10]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-27
Updated: 2016-10-03
Packaged: 2018-08-17 13:42:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8146157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RosexKnight/pseuds/RosexKnight
Summary: "Our suitcases look the same and somehow I grabbed yours"





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ashadeofpemberley](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashadeofpemberley/gifts).



Surely his suitcase hadn’t been this heavy before. Gold always packed light, even if it was for his son’s wedding. He could still lift his luggage, of course, but somehow he doubted that he would have packed so much.

Three-piece suits couldn’t weigh that much.

Giving an annoyed grunt, Gold jostled over to the side of the walkway. The airport was busy for a weekend and it took him a moment to find a spot he could sit down. Stretching out his bad leg, he propped his luggage up and, upon closer inspection, realized he didn’t have his luggage at all.

For one, he never packed books. It was really no wonder the thing was so heavy. Every now and then he tucked away a paperback to read on the flight but the sheer amount of books this piece of luggage has was ridiculous. No wonder it was so heavy. The second thing he noticed was the luggage tag he hadn’t noticed when looking for his black suitcase. He was most certainly NOT this “Belle French.”

“How cliche…” He grumblec, zipping the suitcase back up and standing to go to the service desk and demand they locate his luggage immediately.

Honestly this threw his whole day out of whack. He had a schedule to keep! Pictures to take! A wedding to attend! He had no time to deal with this and he doubted the airlines wanted to compensate him for three lost Armani suits. Why, if he had anything to say about this they’d–

“Excuse me.”

A small voice came from behind where Gold had stood. A petite brunette smiled brightly at him, leaving him unable to do anything but blink at her.

“What is it, dearie?” He asked, his voice coming out far too gruff for his liking.

This didn’t seem to phase her. “You’re Gold right?”

Once again, he was helpless to do anything but blink at her. It was so odd. She was smiling at him. People didn’t SMILE at him. After a moment, he nodded.

“Oh good!” She said with some relief, holding up a black suitcase identical to the one he currently gripped in his hand. “We must have the same taste in luggage, huh? I’m glad I found you. I would have been late for a wedding if I had to go to the service desk.”

“Wedding?”

“Yes. In Storybrooke. It’s a small town so everyone knows each other. Mostly.”

“I know. I’m on my way there myself?”

“Really? Excellent!” Belle chirped, her smile growing wider. “Would you want to share a taxi with me? I was going to rent a car but you don’t usually need one there ya know?”

Gold could only gape at her. This girl, this beautiful girl, was attending his son’s wedding and offering to spend time with him. Asking him if he wanted to, even. He nodded. He was planning to get a car. But, as she said, who needed a bloody car in Storybrooke?

“I’d be happy to.” He said.

Once again she beamed at him, and as she looped her arm with his and they made their way out of the airport that Gold realized they never did swap luggage.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ashadeofpemberley asked: "Whose wedding are you going to (and how do you know them)?"

“So, bride or groom?” Belle asked as Gold leaned on his cane, one arm extended to hail them a taxi.

He needed to hurry and get one it seemed. Already he could see dark clouds on the horizon. He didn’t like them. It was too symbolic for his liking.

“Groom.” Gold said. “And you?”

“Bride. Emma and I have been friends for a little while now. I couldn’t say no to her wedding. And Baelfire is a fantastic guy.”

“You’re the Belle French she mentions.” Gold blurted, suddenly feeling very silly when she lifted her brow at him. “Baelfire. He’s my son.”

A taxi stopped before them, and Gold held the door open for her, allowing her to slide in as the driver put their matching suitcases in the trunk.

“So you’re the dreadful Mr. Gold.” Belle said with a grin as he settled into his spot beside him. “I really should have put two and two together on that one.”

“Emma calls me dreadful?”

The sheer worried surprise in his voice made Belle laugh. She shook her head, and Gold relaxed a bit.

“No. Emma loves you. She thinks you’re a bit hard to get along with but she cares. She has trouble showing that sometimes. You get used to it. Plus you’ve paid for their wedding. She knows you’re not.”

A smile twitched at his lips, and the door opened for the driver to slide in. “Where to Mr and Mrs. Gold?”

“Oh. We’re not–” Gold corrected immediately.

“Storybrooke, Maine.” Belle replied easily, cutting him off.

The driver nodded, and Belle giggled once again at the sunrise on Gold’s eyes as the vehicle started to move away from the airport. Gold rolled his eyes at her, pretending to be grumpy about the whole ordeal, but grateful that they had gotten their luggage mixed up. Perhaps those dark clouds on the horizon weren’t so symbolic after all.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ashadeofpemberley asked: "Has Belle made you play any car games (I-SPY, Twenty Questions, etc.)?"

“Look! They’re all the way from Georgia! I wonder what they’re doing all the way up here…”

“They could live here and simply have their car registered there.”

Belle have him a pout. He couldn’t help the grin from spreading across his lips. She’d been at this for an hour, trying to find a game he’d cooperate with. At this point, it was more of a game in itself. He’d been afraid he was being too harsh with his gruff personality, but she was taking it in strides.

“Well the License Plate Game is a bust then.” Belle said, leaning back in her seat. “Let’s see, how about I Spy?”

“A bit juvenile.” Gold said with a shrug.

“Better than sitting in silence. You go first.”

“Honestly? I Spy is what we’re playing?”

Belle grinned. “Well it’s either that or make more small talk until one of us goes off on a tangent and the conversation becomes deeper than either of us intended until we’re baring our souls to each other.”

Gold gaped at her, and Belle giggled. Reluctantly, he sighed, his gaze shifting from item to item in the back of the cab. The driver even seemed to have a grin on his face.

“I spy…” What? A gorgeous brunette beside him? A driver who was getting far too much amusement from this? A fool who was getting hot under the collar from her thigh being pressed against his?

All the knick-knacks seemed far too easy, but suddenly a light plit-plat sound hit the car. Raindrops scattered against the window.

“Something clear.”

“Clear?” Belle echoed, eyes already searching the vehicle.

“Three guesses, dearie.” Gold said in a sing-song voice.

“Then what?” Belle asked.

“Then I win.”

She hummed, her eyes roaming again. Gold watched the gears turn in her head, her teeth coming out to bite her lower lip in thought. Gold turned away, tugging at his tie. It felt stuffy all of a sudden with Belle so close. When had she gotten so close.

“The windows?” She asked, frowning when he shook his head. She gestured to the cup holder in front of them “The water bottles?”

“Closer, but no.”

Belle hummed, her bottom lip slipping between her teeth again. “What happens if you win?”

Gold paused. There were a great number of things he wanted to happen if he won. None of them were the slightest bit appropriate to ask of a woman who you’d only just met a few hours ago.

“I suppose the tradition is I get something. Perhaps something trivial. A handkerchief, your phone number, a lock of your hair, your first born.”

Belle let out a laugh, and Gold’s chest swelled.

“My first born? What are you some dark sorcerer? You’re not gonna lock them in a tower and force them to use their hair as a rope are you?”

Gold’s brow furrowed. “No I was more thinking of forcing them into spinning straw into gold for me.”

Another musical laugh from her. “Still you better slow down, tiger. You’re talking about firstborns and haven’t even taken me out to dinner yet. Maybe you’ll have to do that if I lose.”

He faltered. “Dinner?”

“You’re right.” Belle said. “It wouldn’t really be a loss for me.”

He found himself gaping again. He’d only known her a few hours and he could already feel Belle French crawling her way under his skin. If he wasn’t careful she could find herself in a place he had kept empty for so long. He had to stop this. She’d had his luggage. She was no doubt flirting to get something out of him. Money. They always wanted money. Once Belle realized he wouldn’t spare a dime for her (no matter how much he so wanted to see something sparkling against her lovely skin) she’d be done with him just like all the others.

“Oh! I know what I want!” She chirped. Gold relaxed a bit. That’s what he thought. They always wanted something. “In your luggage, there was a first edition.”

“All those books in yours and none of them are a first edition?” Gold teased.

Belle sighed. “I wish. I can’t afford them. But you can. If I win, you let me borrow it.”

“Well I’m sorry dearie I can’t just–” he paused. “Borrow?”

“Well of course. I’ll read it before the wedding ends and give it back to you. I’ll be on time. We librarians are very strict about our due dates.”

“Very well.” Gold said, waving his hand. “If you win, you may borrow the first edition. If you lose, I get my pick of your library.”

“Deal.” Belle said with a smile. “Now, something clear…”

Her voice trailed off and her brow furrowed in thought. Slowly he could see her getting stumped.

“Tick tock, dearie.” He teased.

The plit plat of rain suddenly halted, giving way to a veritable roar as it poured harder than before. The driver glanced to them, leaning over to turn on the radio for the weather report, no doubt.

“The rain!” Belle finally said with a snap of her fingers. “It’s clear.”

Gold groaned. “It’s also coming down.”

Belle suddenly looked worried as the sky lit up, and the driver turned to take an exit that led off the interstate.

“I’m really sorry about this, Mr. and Mrs. Gold,” He began, either heedless or uncaring of Gold’s correction before. “But it’s raining so hard I can barely see the road. The weather report says it’s not letting up until tomorrow morning. I’m afraid I can’t take you all the way to Storybrooke tonight.”

“Well what are you doing, then?” Gold asked, his voice suddenly cold, a clear warning for the driver to find a solution before he regretted it.

“Don’t worry. There’s a hotel not far. I’ll see to it you two get there safely and tomorrow I’ll take you the rest of the way to Storybrooke.”

“Thank you very much.” Belle said, though her posture had changed. She was stiffer when she turned back to Gold. “Guess I’ll get some reading done early. If that’s alright with you.”

Something told Gold she’d need a distraction from the storm. He didn’t blame her for disliking them. His leg ached from the rain already. “Yes. That’s…fine, dearie. Totally fine.”

“Good! I’d hate for you to break our I Spy deal.”

This time it was Gold that gave a laugh. “My dear, I never break a deal. No matter how juvenile.”

“Good to know. Because next time I might just deal for that dinner.”

The cab slowed, the lights of the small hotel coming into view. He found himself suddenly very lost. But not uneasy. Yes. Me needed to be careful with this Belle French indeed.

“Be careful or I’ll hold you to that, dearie.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ashadeofpemberley prompted - “Terrible weather forces the travelers to rent a room for the night. Unfortunately -or fortunately, depending how you look at it- they have to share a room.” and “ On the way to the wedding, Gold and Belle have a close call with a reckless driver. No one was hurt, but the event causes some bad memories to crop up for the both of them-prompting some much needed comforting.”

The motel was rather small from what Gold could see of it in the rain. The storm had let up only slightly, though showed no signs of stopping. The cab driver produced an umbrella, apologizing over and over again for needing to stop. Something of safety protocol under bad weather and the like. Gold had never heard of it, but Belle smiled and assured the driver that it was fine and thanked him for taking however much the room’s fee would be off of their tab.

The cab driver parked in the motel’s space for cabs in front of the entrance. They would still have to cross the street, and in the dark of the night combined with the torrential downpour, it was really only thanks to the lights of the hotel that anything at all was visible.

“I can go in and get another umbrella for you.” Gold said as he held Belle’s door open for her.

“It’s alright.” She said, and he didn’t complain at all with how close she had to stand to him to squeeze under the small shelter. “It’s only rain.”

She seemed to say that as if to re-assure herself of that fact. Her shoulders were tense, only growing moreso as there was a flash of light and a boom of thunder immediately after. The cab driver hurried into the motel with their baggage in hand, apparently determined to do anything he could to avoid the wrath of an unsatisfied customer.

There was another flash of light. “Come on.” Belle said quickly, moving from under the umbrella to get to the safety of the motel as quickly as she could, not caring of the rain.

No sooner had she moved, however, did Gold realize the flash of light had not been lightning, but an approaching car. One that was going fast. Far too fast.

“Belle--!” Gold squeaked, lunging forward to grab her.

He caught her arm as the headlights of the car found her in the dark and rain, and pulled her hard. She gave a yelp as she realized what was happening, but just as fast as she was facing the headlights of an oncoming car was she in Gold’s arms, trembling against his chest. The car wizzed by, completely oblivious to what had happened.

“You’re okay.” Gold said, his heart thrumming in his ears. He was holding her too tight, but that didn’t matter. “You’re okay.”

Belle nodded, her breaths hard and fast. Slowly she looked up at him, and he swallowed. Now was really not the time to realize how well she looked even soaked to the bone considering she could have just met her end. “Thank you.”

He nodded. “Let’s get inside.”

“Yeah.”

He held the umbrella back up for them, even though the gesture was practically useless now. The motel, thankfully, wasn’t as far as it looked, and the lobby was warm.

“We need two rooms…” Gold said with much relief.

The woman behind the counter gave a nervous glance to the cab driver before turning back to him. “I’m very sorry, sir, but we only have one more room available.”

If Gold’s body could get any colder, it would have. The motel must have been much smaller than he thought, but he couldn’t dwell on that. There was only one room available. Meaning he and Belle would have to…

“I’m sorry.” The driver began. “I thought--”

“That’s fine.” Belle said, her voice not quite as confident as it had been before. When she looked at him Gold realized she probably just wanted to get to a room as badly as he did. If not more. “Right?”

“That’s fine.” Gold said finally. “Just get us a key.”

The woman behind the counter did, and soon he and Belle were making their way to the second floor where their room was waiting. It was bigger than he’d expected from the size of the motel, and thankfully it had two beds.

“They must have truly thought we were married.” Belle said with a laugh, more at-ease now that they were in the room.

“I suppose.” He grumbled. His leg was killing him, and he was quite happy when she went to the bed in the far end of the room so that he wouldn’t have to limp so far.

The storm practically howled outside, and the thunder rattled the windows. Belle seemed to go stiff during that time, and Gold watched her closely until he saw the tension leave her shoulders.

“Why don’t you take a shower?” He suggested as he shrugged out of his soaked jacket. “It will warm you up.”

“I’m alright.” Belle said simply, opening her suitcase to retrieve a set of pajamas from it. “Do you need one?”

“No.” He decided, setting his cane aside. “I just thought the warmth might calm your nerves.”

“The warmth would. But I’m not so sure about the water…”

Her voice trailed off, and he didn’t press her to explain. He of all people understood secrecy. She went to the bathroom to change, and he was quickly undoing his tie to change before she got back. Gooseflesh rose on his arms as he stepped out of his wet clothes and into his flannel pajama pants, and he hit the off button of the thermostat so hard he was fairly certain he’d broken it.

She emerged in her pajamas too soon, two towels in her hand. He hadn’t had time to put on a proper shirt, but Belle didn’t seem to mind. She handed him a towel wordlessly, though offered him a smile. The silence was unbearable between them. He needed to say something. Needed to put more sound into the air besides the pounding of rain.

“My luggage.” He blurted. Belle raised a brow at him. “The first editions.” But that didn’t help anything either. “You won I Spy. You get to choose a first edition to borrow.”

“Oh.” Belle said, a smile tugging at her lips.

The topic of books seemed to put her more at-ease. She looked almost excited as she rummaged through the few books he’d brought for the trip.

“You have very different taste in long-distance reading is very different.”

“Well I don’t have a very large library when it comes to trashy romance.”

“It’s not all trashy romance.” Belle defended. “I at least leave my bodice-rippers at home.”

Gold laughed, only happier when Belle joined in. For a moment, her eyes lingered on him, and it was only then that he realized he’d forgotten to put a shirt back on. He grabbed a pajama shirt from his suitcase at random, not caring that it was silk and his pants were flannel. Another silence fell between them, but this one wasn’t so heavy. Belle was caressing the books as if they were old friends, setting each one aside carefully.

“This one!” Belle said excitedly, holding up his rather thick copy of fairytales by The Brother’s Grimm. He forgot he’d even packed that one.

“It’s not a first edition.” Gold said with a frown, sitting on the side of the bed so he could stretch his leg out.

“It’s fine. I’ve never been able to read their fairy tales in a collection properly before.” She said.

Her smile faltered when another boom of thunder came, a reminder of the storm outside.

“Are you alright?” Gold asked, taking a risk and reaching up to rest his hand on hers.

“Yes.” Belle said, too quickly. “I just...it’s storms. And what happened. Can we sleep together tonight?”

Gold’s jaw went slack, and his eyebrows must have raised. Belle blushed immediately, realizing her mistake. “No! No no. Not like sleep together. Just sleep. In the same bed. Or just sit together. In the same bed for a while. Just until…”

“It’s fine.” Gold said, placing his luggage on the floor and moving to lay against the pillows of the bed. He meant to stay above the covers, but they were too warm to resist, especially when Belle joined him. She didn’t quite touch him. “You don’t like storms?”

Belle shook her head, the tension back in her shoulders. Gold cursed the question as Belle flicked the bedside lamp on and the lights off. She settled into the pillows easily enough, opening the book to a random page. The wind howled outside, and without thinking he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, trying to soothe the tension from them.

“Read aloud?” He suggested.

Belle began to tremble again, and for a moment he was afraid he’d overstepped, but she only settled into his shoulder further. She turned, burying her face in the crook of his neck, only confusing him further.

“You’re okay…” He soothed, his other hand moving to trace what he hoped were relaxing patterns on her arm. “It’s only rain. It’ll pass.”

“You saved my life.” She said, her words only slightly muffled by her position.

“It’s okay.” He repeated. “It’s over now.”

Something about the whole ordeal had stirred up something in her. Gold had no idea what it was or how he could help, so he continued to run his fingers and palm over her arms. Slowly, her trembling stopped, and she sighed.

“I’m sorry.” She said. “I know you barely know me. This isn’t how I need to be acting…”

“It’s no matter.” Gold said. “Neal hated storms when he was a child. I understand.”

Belle’s lips quirked up in a smile. He suspected this was more than a simple phobia. She cleared her throat, her eyes closing for a moment before she sighed.

“I used to love storms. The sound of rain and the tension in the air. But...My mother, Colette, she died. In a car accident one night when it was storming on her way home.”

Suddenly, it all made sense. “So the car tonight…”

“Yes.”

They sat in silence for a long while, just the sound of the storm howling outside. Gold moved, plucking the book from her lap. Only one thing ever worked with his son on bad nights when it was obvious sleep would be difficult. Belle wasn’t a child, but she did need to hear a sound that wasn’t the whipping of wind or rolling thunder. “Which fairy tale do you want to hear tonight?”

Belle blinked at him. “What?”

“I’m going to read to you.”

“You don’t have to. I can read. I don’t want to keep you up.”

“It’s no matter. Which story?”

She hesitated for a fraction of a moment before she moved her fingers against the pages and flipped through the book. “This one.”

Gold made a face. “Rumpelstiltskin?”

“I always thought of him with a scottish accent.”

“You thought of a German character with a scottish accent?”

She giggled. “I know it’s odd. But I’ve always liked his story for some reason.”

In all honesty, he did too. It was quite easier to admit that with Belle settling against him, her warm body pressed to his as she settled in for the night. He cleared his throat, dusting off his voice for bedtime stories.

By the the princess was guessing the odd little imp’s name, Belle was sound asleep against him, and he decided right then and there he’d read every blasted fairy tale ever told if it meant getting to hold her on a nightly basis.


End file.
